Tangled Wires
by alphafairy
Summary: The Avengers and the Amazing Spiderman crossover. Pretty typical Superfamily origins story. Peter Parker is being abused by a parental figure (OC) and tries to keep this secret as he interns at Stark tower. Stony a given. Work in progress, probably slow moving and almost definitely full of angst. Rated T for naughty words, implied sexual abuse, on-screen and off-screen violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything.

**A/N: **Just an FYI before we begin, for the sake of the story Peter is fourteen and hasn't yet been bitten by the spider. Superfamily is end game but I am reluctant to just kill Aunt May off to move the story forward so we'll have to see how that goes.

Also Avengers have been together for a while now.

Enjoy! :)

* * *

Peter lay on his side, a pillow over his ear to blot out the yelling downstairs. He always tried very hard to both ignore and listen, just waiting for Jeff to snap and lash out at Aunt May and ready to take the brunt of the beatings when he did.

Peter had to admit that Jeff was smarter than he looked, he knew how to keep his spouse and step-nephew in line, just hurt one to get to the other.

That was the only reason he put up with Jeff's crap. He didn't want Aunt May to get hurt.

Eventually the sound of fighting died down and Peter heard their bedroom door close. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Peter removed the pillow and slowly sat up, ears straining to hear any tell tale creaking that would signal a midnight visit.

Hearing nothing, Peter carefully, oh so carefully, started tip toeing towards his window, opening it inch by agonizing inch.

It wasn't a long drop by any means but it still turned his stomach every time he sat on the sill. All it would take was one broken bone and it would all be over. No more freedom, no more taste of normalcy.

He leaned over the edge and loosened his grip, aiming for the little shrub by the front door.

WHAM!

Peter's bedroom door hit the wall and Peter was startled onto his back, his breath leaving him as he hit the carpet.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jeff thundered.

Peter recovered quickly. He stood up and let himself be grabbed roughly by the scruff of the neck. It never did any good to struggle.

Jeff repeated his question.

"Nowhere." Peter stuttered, cringing against the hold on him.

"Really?" Said Jeff sarcastically.

"Because if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were sneaking out."

"I'm not, I promise - "

The first slap always surprised him. Peter fell to the floor in a heap but quickly stumbled back onto his feet. A clumsy headbutt sent him back down.

Tears sprung to his eyes as a sharp pain in his nose started to throb. His hand came away bloody.

"You little shit. Did I say you could go out?" A kick to the ribs.

Peter curled inwards, trying to suck in air. He didn't bother trying to reply, at this point the questions were only rhetorical.

A kick to Peter's back left him breathless.

It took a moment for him to regain his senses. Almost thankful that Aunt May had at some point run in and was subtly cajoling Jeff away from Peter.

When Jeff looked safely appeased Peter stood up, careful to keep his head down, looking contrite.

Jeff grunted. "Well, since I can't trust you to behave in your own room I'll have to sort something out in the morning. Till then . . . "

Jeff grabbed Peter by the front of his shirt and dragged him towards the closet.

Peter let himself be tossed in and shook his head minutely when it looked like Aunt May was going to argue. Thank God he wasn't claustrophobic.

Peter listened as his dresser was dragged in front of the door and relaxed, knowing it would take some effort on Jeff's part to attack Peter again.

Peter whipped his phone out for some light and made a makeshift bed out of a box of old clothes.

He settled down, trying not to poke at his throbbing nose, knowing from experience that it would make the pain worse.

He sent a quick text to Gwen, apologizing for not turning up as planned and wishing her and Harry a good time at the expo.

Peter drifted off into a shallow sleep, too tired to dread what Jeff had promised tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel**

* * *

**A/N: **Just letting everyone know that this story is a bit slow moving, but I'm trying to be thorough. Updates will be either once or twice a week :)

* * *

Peter woke up confused and with four message alerts flashing on his phone.

GWEN: omg Peter u will never guess wat happnd at the expo!

GWEN: Peter wake up and txt me.

HARRY: Pete wake up and txt Gwen. She's bugging me.

GWEN: fine, txt me when you get up. U r gonna be so pumped when u find out what happened last night!

Peter checked the door. Still locked in. Not that Peter was stupid enough to just walk out if he were free to do so, there was a procedure to this sort of thing. A painful procedure.

Peter sat back down and sent a quick text to Gwen, he wondered if he could make plans to meet up today, while also imagining the beating to come. Something that bad, Jeff would never let him get off that easy.

Peter felt dread and frustration swirl in his stomach. It wasn't fair.

God, life wasn't fair. His parents dying at five years old wasn't fair. His uncle dying two years later wasn't fair. Watching his Aunt slowly become skin and bone as she tried to pay the bills and put food on the table for Peter wasn't fair. Aunt May being desperate enough to not toss an abusive lump out of the house wasn't fair. Getting the crap beaten out of him for sneaking out to hang out with his friends wasn't fair.

It just wasn't fair.

* * *

"Oh my God, Peter! What happened?" Gwen exclaimed when Peter sat down at lunch on Monday.

This was the part that Peter hated the most. The lying. It always felt so cowardly. Both his eyes were bruised and yellowing from the headbutt to the nose and his lip was split from a stray punch when he was finally dragged out of the closet. Most of the damage was under his shirt. How easy yet how hard it would be to say: 'Jeff did this to me. I need help.'

"I skated into a car." Peter has always found the best excuses were the outlandish but plausible ones. God he was ashamed of himself.

"Are you okay? How did that happen?"

"Wasn't paying attention to the traffic. So what was this amazing thing you refused to text me about?" Peter was way more excited to hear about what happened at the Stark expo.

Gwen flapped her hands and grabbed Peter by the cheeks, looking him straight in the eyes. "You, me and Stark tower. This Saturday. No excuses, you're in."

She let go of his face.

"What do you mean?"

Gwen explained. An incident involving some run away lizards and a potential PR disaster resulted in Gwen and a friend winning a tour of Stark tower with Tony Stark himself. Peter is that friend.

"I don't know if Jeff or Aunt May will let me go, I think they just want a quiet weekend." Peter lied.

"Oh you're coming, no negotiations."

"But - "

"Peter!" Gwen snapped. "A tour of the Stark tower labs with the man himself. Are you really going to make me drag you there? _Really_?"

"Fair point." Peter conceded. "What time?"

"Nine am, at the security desk."

The end of lunch bell rang and Gwen pulled Peter into a chaste hug. "Thank you, love you!"

Peter sucked in a breath, glad that Gwen had run to her next class and couldn't see Peter trying to recover from the brisk assault. Taking shallow breaths, Peter walked into English with a couple of minutes to spare.

He sat at the back of the room and proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon thinking up ways to get to Stark tower without ending up in hospital. Again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel**

**A/N: **Sorry for the late update, I have my reasons: my parents just split up and I was kind of mediating until I was rushed to hospital with suspected meningitis, luckily it was only one of the viral types so that was a relief, but then my hearing went to shot and I had to do some testing up in the big hospital two hours away to see what the hell caused it and whether or not it was permanent (it's starting to come back, waiting on results) and then my Mom was rushed to hospital with a suspected brain bleed and we don't know what the hell is going on with that and then to top it all off my asshole boss fired me for not calling in that I wouldn't be at work and not organising cover _when I was in the freaking hospital _ and because I was within my ninety day trial I can't fight the decision so I'm looking for another job and *deep breath* it's been a very eventful few weeks.

So for the next wee while updates are going to be erratic, but I am still working on this :)

I probably should mention this early on, but there's a long road until Jeff get's his ass kicked. I want to establish a relationship with Peter and the Avengers before they make their move. Things are going to get worse before they get better for Peter.

**TRIGGER WARNING: Child abuse. Possible claustrophobic trigger. **Jeff is a major dick in this chapter.

* * *

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Tony Stark was having a stand off. One man versus Captain 'moral fibre of' America and CEO Pepper Potts. He had no chance, but old dogs rarely learn new tricks.

"Why do I have to lead around a bunch of snot nosed kids this Saturday? I have better things to be doing than that!"

"No you don't, Tony." Replied Steve. The traitor. He was so sleeping on the couch tonight.

"And it's your fault that those lizards tried to terrorise the expo! They shouldn't have even been there! You lied to me! If Miss Stacey hadn't been so quick thinking then you would have had a lot more to do this Saturday than giving the _saviour_ of _your_ expo a tour of the tower - like preparing for a lawsuit. Probably multiple." Pepper ranted.

"Pepper come on! How many times am I going to have to apologize?"

"Until I say so." Pepper snapped as she walked towards the elevator.

Tony held up his hands helplessly as Steve shrugged and followed Pepper into the lift.

A giggling from above alerted Tony to the face that he was not alone.

"Barton, get out of my air ducts."

Clint kicked out the grate and dropped next to Tony. He didn't even flinch. This happened so often that it had lost it's shock value.

"Dude you are so whipped. But I take pity on you. The lizards were awesome and I don't want a bunch of brats hanging out in my crib. I have a plan."

The rest of the afternoon was spent plotting. Those kids would have a hell of a fright when they showed up on Saturday.

* * *

Peter couldn't believe it. He really could not believe it. It had taken a few days but Jeff had followed through on last Saturday's promise.

His new bed was a cage. A literal cage. In the basement. Peter couldn't even straighten his legs in it. Thankfully he was allowed to keep his pillow and blanket when Aunt May bought them down to him with a quiet apology for his ears only. For the first time Peter couldn't bring himself to respond.

He was humiliated from Jeff's crowing and poking through the bars at him, like he was some animal and his Aunt May refused to say anything about it. Just bought some stuff down to make it a little more comfortable for him and, in Peter's mind, a token apology.

Peter turned over, for the first time in ages resentful of his Aunt May and angry at himself for not being able to make a stand - for not being able to protect himself or his Aunt May.

Peter waited for Jeff to get tired of his game and leave the basement. When he heard the jingle of the television it was only then that he allowed himself to cry for the first time in years.

* * *

Friday.

Stark and Barton's Evil Plan Of Evil (coincidently involving lizards) was thwarted by Potts.

Stacey was reviewing her plan of attack, so many labs, so little time.

And Parker was creating a plan that would get him to Stark tower bang on nine.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel etc.**

* * *

Saturday morning and indignation about the cage had wavered into resignation. Jeff had been called into work early (a Chihuahua was choking on a handbag strap) and Aunt May had let him out early.

They were sitting at the kitchen table, the only sounds were the clanging of spoons on the sides of bowls and the crunching of cereal.

Peter cleared his throat. "What time will he be back?"

Aunt May pursed her lips, instantly suspicious. "I'm not sure, why?"

"I was just wondering if I could go for a walk?" Peter saw her open her mouth to argue, and so guiltily he pulled out the big guns. "Please? Just to stretch my muscles, it's a bit cramped in there." Peter pointed down to the basement with a rueful smile.

Aunt May melted with her own kind of guilt. "Okay Peter, but just for an hour, if he comes back sooner I'll text you and you'll have to come home and sneak in the back. I will distract him if that happens." She pushed a kiss to his forehead as he left the table.

"One hour Aunt May, I promise." Said Peter, hiding another round of guilt as he walked down the street.

That was a promise he had no intention to keep.

* * *

Stark tower was magnificent. There were no other words to describe it. Sure, he'd seen it on TV, but that was nothing compared to the real deal up close.

Peter walked in, putting Aunt May and the guilt over how easy it was to trick her out of his mind. He would deal with the inevitable consequences later.

_Now it was time to science. _He thought as he switched his phone off.

The foyer was large and extravagant and the security check was brief. Peter gave his name to a man called Happy that gave off such a glare that it made Peter want to hide behind Gwen. He held his ground.

Peter watched Happy inspect the results.

"Gwen Stacey and Peter Parker. From what I can see, they're both just a couple of science geeks. Great." Happy said, seemingly to the thin air. "Can you - "

"Sir is already on his way." Replied an invisible man, exasperated.

Gwen and Peter jumped.

"That must be Jarvis, I read an article about him somewhere. He's Tony Stark's AI. The most sophisticated in the world." Gwen whispered to Peter.

Peter got excited. "Which article? What's his specs?"

"Alright you two nerds, you can stop talking about me, I'm right here." Said a voice from across the room.

Tony Stark, _the _Tony Stark, was walking towards them. He looked just like he did in the magazines. Suit. Sunglasses. A grin that could power New York city.

Behind him, a living legend frowned. "Don't be conceited, Tony. We want them to have at least a halfway decent impression of you." Captain America smiled at Gwen and Peter as if he was sharing a private joke with them.

"Honey, they're in _my _tower to get a tour _by me_ of where _I _work. How could they not be talking about me?"

"Actually," replied Gwen, "We were talking sbout Jarvis."

"Close enough." Smirked Tony.

Captain America rolled his eyes. "Steve Rogers, and this is my not - very - child - friendly - husband, who I will be baby sitting today." He said as he shook hands with the youths.

Peter tried not to outwardly fanboy. He was never washing his hand again.

"So!" Tony clapped his hands together. "Where shall we start?"

Peter repeated his questions about Jarvis to Tony.

"Why don't we let Jarvis answer for himself. What do you say, Buddy?"

Everyone looked to the ceiling for the answer.

Except for Tony, he was too classy for that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, and I am not profiting from this story.**

**A/N: **Sorry for the late update!

* * *

Steve Rogers was having the time of his life. Well, slight exaggeration, but he was having fun. The two youths were very entertaining and it was nice to see Tony taken down a peg or two by Gwen.

The boy, Peter, was only slightly more reserved. He'd fumble over his words excitedly to discuss something he'd seen in the lab (what, Steve couldn't imagine), questioning Tony's answers and providing suggestions of his own. Steve was surprised when he noticed that Tony was taking them seriously, but throughout the course of the day Peter had gotten quiet.

It was a little concerning. Of course, he'd been concerned this morning when he had met the boy and saw the yellowing nose and eyes, the split lip and the unconscious tight way that he held himself, but Steve had hidden it to prevent the boy from becoming uncomfortable. He observed that Tony had done the same. Good to see Tony had _some _tact.

Still, Steve made a note to see if he could get the boy by himself at some point during the day, to talk to him about it.

* * *

The opportunity for Steve came when Tony, with a significant look his way, led Gwen to one of the exhibits on the other side of the room as Peter examined the tarantula crawling up a branch in the container.

"Fan of spiders" Steve asked.

"Yeah they're okay." Peter replied, subtly moving out of arms reach of the Captain, something the boy had been unconsciously doing all morning.

Steve decided to just cut straight to the chase. "Peter, are you okay?" He motioned to the bruises on his face.

Peter tensed and fumbled for words. "Yep. It's just school and stuff."

"Bullies?" It seemed the most logical conclusion.

Peter nodded and moved on, effectively ending the conversation.

* * *

They took the elevator up to the Avengers communal floor for lunch. Steve had already ordered take away for the small group and had given a heads up to the other Avengers so that they could make their own plans or join them.

Bruce sat in an armchair by the window, reading.

"Is that the Hunger Games?" Gwen asked, introducing herself and Peter, then apologizing for interrupting his book.

Bruce looked alarmed for a second, then replied. "Not at all, I've just finished the chapter. It's quite dark isn't it?"

While Bruce, Gwen and Peter discussed the book Steve lead Tony into the kitchen area to pick up the boxes of food left on the counter.

"He gets bullied in school, that's where the bruises are coming from."

Tony frowned. "Gwen told me he skated into a car."

"Oh. So what does that mean?"

"One of them is lying. Probably Peter. To Gwen. He definitely seems the suffer in silence type."

"Why would he lie to his friends?"

"Have you met Gwen? That girl is going to rule the world some day. Imagine what she would do if she found out Peter was being bullied?"

Steve could imagine it. It wasn't pretty. "So what do we do? I don't feel comfortable letting this continue after he leaves here without having someone else to fight in his corner. Should we call his parents?"

"He's living with his aunt and step-uncle, it's a good idea. If he's able to keep Gwen in the dark then god knows what his guardians are thinking."

"Maybe we could talk to the school? Have an anti-bullying presentation at an assembly?"

"Urgh. Now you're thinking like Pepper. I have an idea." Tony walked back into the front room without elaborating.

"Okay you weirdos, eat up." Tony deposited the containers on the coffee table and dropped onto the couch. "What are you talking about anyway?"

"Doctor Banner was telling us about what he's working on. Awesome! Pad Thai!" Replied Gwen taking a fork offered by Steve.

"And how are you finding it?"

"Very interesting. Please tell me you're going to publish the results when you find them, I eant to know." Gwen told Bruce earnestly.

Tony noted that Bruce was blushing and made a mental memo to tease him about it later.

"I will." Bruce promised.

"And you, Peter?" Tony asked.

"It's interesting, but I'm more interested in mechanical engineering that genetic. Sorry Doctor." Peter said with a rueful glance at Bruce.

"No offense taken." Smiled Bruce.

"Well that settles it then." Tony clapped his hands together. "Peter I need an intern, I'm hiring you. And Gwen, I'm sure I can trust you to be Bruce's lab assistant without becoming a supervillian?"

Complete silence.

"Excelent. I'll get Jarvis to organise the paperwork." Tony nodded to himself and took another bite of his sandwich.

Gwen recovered first. "I'm not sure whether to take it as a compliment that you want to hire me over lunch or be offended that you think I can _only_ become a supervillian."

"I'm going to go with confused." Said Peter.

Steve silently agreed.

Tony scoffed. "Two young prodigees like yourselves, I'm just snapping you up before Oscorp. Can you blame me?"

Bruce looked like he wanted to say something but decided to wait until they could speak privately.

Steve silently thanked him, he could see what Tony's plan was. It might work.

By the time lunch was finished and they were in the elevator again everything had been organized and they would start work on Monday (with parental consent of course).

Steve called it an internship.

Tony called it a several years long job interview.

* * *

At around four o'clock Peter retreated to the bathroom and summoned the guts to turn on his phone.

Twenty five missed calls and texts from two numbers. One was increasingly frantic, the other increasingly violent.

Peter gulped, the paperwork folded neatly in his pocket felt heavy.

There was no way he was going to get his Aunt May to sign them.

Hell, at this rate he might not even be alive by Monday.

Peter sighed and txt Aunt May: 'On way home now. Sorry.'

This had been fun but if he stayed any longer Aunt May would pay for it.

Peter left the bathroom and made his way back to the others.

A scream from Gwen sent Peter barreling around the corner. Hand on heart, he stumbled to a stop when he saw Gwen slapping a third man who was giggling even as he had his arms up in defense. Tony was hiding a grin behind his hand and Steve was looking to the sky, sending a silent prayer.

Peter tripped over the air vent grate.

"Ow! Okay I'm sorry, kid. I couldn't resist!" The newcomer yelled over Gwen's colourful expletives. "Jesus Tony, call her off."

Steve noticed Peter's arrival first. "Peter, meet Clint. Better known as Hawkeye."

Gwen stopped her assault and Clint scurried out of reach. "Nice to meet you too kid. What's with the colours?" He motioned to Peter's bruises.

Peter shrugged, not wanting to get into the subject again. He really needed to head home now.

He let Tony and Steve know. Steve walked him down to the front doors.

"I hope we see you soon, Peter."

Peter replied in kind and set off for the bus stop.

* * *

**A/N: **FYI for next chapter, those who are easily triggered may want to give it a skip, I've kept the violence off-screen but it is graphic. Also, for those who have been waiting, without spoiling the story let me just say that Steve visits Peter's house at a very crucial moment!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Marvel.

**A/N: **I read somewhere that Captain America's father was an abusive drunk (par for the course for Marvel superheroes) and am working under that assumption.

* * *

By Monday morning the welts from Jeff's belt had shriveled and bruised and moving - though hindered by stinging and throbbing - was bearable.

Aunt May, upon seeing her nephew walking with the hunched, pained gait of an old man, refused to let Peter go to school.

They didn't speak of it, but it was without doubt the worst beating he had ever received.

Peter spent his day on his side on the couch, his head in Aunt May's lap as she petted his hair, careful to avoid a lash that caught him behind the ear. It was a simple pleasure and a rare luxury to them both.

"We can't go on like this." Said Peter.

"I know." Aunt May replied.

* * *

Steve walked into Midtown Science High School with a sense of purpose. With Pepper's help it had been easy to get an appointment with the principal, a no nonsense sort of man who was pleased to hear that the Avengers were taking an active stance against bullying in schools.

He was given a tour of the school and was very impressed with what he saw. Given that he was out of uniform he wasn't recognised by most of the students (which he was glad of, he didn't want to disturb their study), but Gwen gave him a small wave as they passed by her class.

At the end of the tour Steve made a note that he had yet to see Peter. He asked the secretary of his whereabouts on the way back to the principal's office.

"Off sick. _Apparently _the poor boy has stomach flu."

Steve didn't like the way she said 'apparently'. "Is he ill often?"

"Often enough." Was the secretary's reply.

"You know Peter Parker?" Asked the principal with no small amount of surprise.

"Yes, he's interning at Stark Industries along with Gwen Stacy - assuming, of course, that it won't interfere with their studies."

"I don't think it will. They're the brightest students we've had here in a while. They're both going places, let me tell you. Please take a seat." The principal pointed to a chair and the subject of Peter Parker was put on hold as they conducted their business.

After the meeting was over, Steve called Tony for Peter's address.

* * *

Peter listened to the gentle clicking of plates in the kitchen as Aunt May made lunch, trying not to think about the fact that he will need to sit up to eat.

A knock at the door gave Peter a small reprieve. The angle of the couch worked in Peter's favour, as long as the visitor didn't come in and Peter stayed on his side, he wouldn't be seen.

Aunt May answered the door, quiet words were exchanged - too quiet to be heard over the daytime tv - and two pairs of feet walked towards the couch.

Peter froze from where he was scrambling to stand.

Aunt May was wringing her hands and Steve Rogers was looking at him with eyes that promised violence. Peter shuddered as his heart started fluttering in fear. He collapsed back on the couch and waited for the strike that instinct told him would come.

A hand was gently placed on his shoulder and Peter looked up. Any trace of violence was carefully hidden as Steve spoke. "Don't worry, Peter. I'll get you out of this."

* * *

Steve knocked on the door and backed away politely. He'd learned from experience that if people weren't expecting him they sometimes got uncomfortable with his size. Of course their reactions were nothing compared to opening the door on Thor.

The door opened to a small lady who Steve assumed was Peter's aunt.

"Mrs Parker?" He supposed that since Peter's Aunt had remarried that her last name would be different, but it seemed rude to reveal that Jarvis had given them an in depth review of the Parker family.

"May, please." She whispered behind her hand. "And you're Captain Rogers, yes?"

"Steve please, Ma'am. I was wondering if I could speak with Peter? His school said he has the flu."

"You know my Peter?"

"Yes Ma'am." Steve was confused. "In fact he was due to start an internship with my husband this afternoon. With your permission, of course."

"He hadn't mentioned it . . . but things haven't been easy lately . . . " May trailed off and took a deep breth. "You'd better come in."

"Thank you Ma'am."

"Call me May, please." She replied absently leading him to the couch where Peter was flailing like a newborn colt.

Pained grunts escaped the boy as he pulled himself upright. Steve's eyes narrowed as he noticed the welt on Peter's neck. That was new.

It wasn't hard to piece it all together, Steve remembered enough of the whippings he got from his drunken father to recognize when someone else had been on the recieving end. He was furious.

Peter lowered himself back onto the couch and studied his feet, shoulders hunched.

Steve took a moment to collect himself and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, conscious of the fact that he would surely be covered black and blue under his clothes. "Don't worry, Peter. I'll get you out of this." He promised, and realized that truer words he had never spoken.

Steve sat next to Peter and gently pulled him into a hug.

Peter was wiping his eyes and trembling.

Stee turned to May who seemed to be dithering about whether or not she should join on Peter's other side, but her maternal instincts won out when Peter's silent tears turned to sobs and she gathered him up in her arms, apologizing and crying herself.

Steve retreated to the kitchen and set about making a pot of tea, not wanting to intrude on such a private family moment.

Normally he wouldn't root through other people's cupboards in their own houses, but Steve doesn't think May would mind.

He pulled his phone out as the tea mashed. He had calls to make.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel**

* * *

Avengers tower may have looked magnificent the first time, but returning, Peter felt like a drowning sailor finding a life raft.

Not a lot of words had been spoken since Peter's breakdown earlier. It seemed that in the time it took Peter to remove all trace of his tears in the bathroom, Aunt May and Steve had organized something, and for once Peter went along with it quietly. He was tired. In more ways than one.

Peter couldn't bring himself to care about what was happening, not just yet, but he knew that anything he was walking into was a hell of a lot better than what he was leaving.

* * *

Natasha was curious. Steve didn't invite many people around to the Avengers quarters so anybody who did come around was somebody that Natasha wanted to know about. Let alone somebody who was invited by Steve AND Tony.

Not that she was at the tower now though. She left Clint to do the recon in the vents.

No, to understand why somebody is coming one has to understand where they were coming from.

And the fact that Steve had asked her to search the visitor's house for 'incriminating evidence' just makes this Parker boy and his aunt all the more interesting.

She picked the lock swiftly and began her search. She found nothing particularly odd (unless you count the dust on a bookcase ledge in a house cleaned within an inch of it's life odd) at least, until she got to the basement.

It wasn't hard to imagine why Steve would want a child out of the house.

The pillow and blanket in the cage left little to the imagination when she took into account that there was no evidence of a pet.

The slam of the front door a couple hours later didn't surprise Natasha. She had been taking her time for a reason.

Natasha sat at the kitchen table and waited for the man to acknowledge her presense.

"May! Get your ass down here and get me a beer."

Natasha wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Wrong name."

Jeff swirled around. "Who the hell are you?"

"Wrong question. I'll give you a hint, they aren't here." She rose and positioned herself in front of him.

Natasha watched as the cogs worked in his head. He came to a conclusion. "Whatever that Brat has been saying - he's lying. Good for nothing - the both of them."

Natasha took her opening. She grabbed the man's finger, pointing a foot or so from her nose, and twisted. A series of pops and cracks, that would have even made a trained soldier cry, travelled up Jeff's arm.

She cut off his resulting howl with a swift jab to the throat. He clawed at his neck, mouth gasping like a fish.

She left before she could do more damage. It wasn't her place to decide what his fate was. If Steve or Tony wanted a 'chat' it wouldn't do to have taken all the fun. Basic spy etiquette.

Still, he would need time to heal before he could become a problem - and who said he'd even be alive by then anyway?

* * *

Tony jumped into action as soon as he ended the call with Steve. He didn't know why Peter and his Aunt were coming to stay at the tower, but the fact that Steve had asked was enough for Tony to take it seriously.

He figured it would be best for them to stay on Steve's old floor, he rarely uses it these days since he moved four floors up into Tony's room. They would be close enough to keep an eye on them and still have privacy.

He made the arrangements and before he knew it, Jarvis was announcing company.

Tony greeted his guests at the elevator and, showing tact that only mildly surprised his husband, barely raised an eyebrow at the fact that Peter looked a lot worse for wear than he did two days ago.

"And you must be Peter's aunt? Very nice to meet you." He shook the small lady's hand.

She smiled and replied, "May, please call me May, Mr Stark."

"Only if you call me Tony." He winked. "Take a seat."

They all sat and Tony examined Peter, noting the bruises and red rimmed eyes, the careful, slow way he moved. Oh. It was really rather obvious. "Jarvis?"

"Yes Sir?" Given that May didn't jump he figured that she must have been forewarned.

"When can we schedule in killing Peter's step uncle?"

All heads snapped to him and Tony received a scolding "Tony!" from Steve.

"What? We've got to do _something_. Can't have my Little Intern getting hurt, can we?"

Peter blushed at the nickname and May frowned. "We still have to talk about that, Mister."

"Sorry, Aunt May." Peter found his shoes to be fascinating.

"You have an unoccupied period next Tuesday afternoon, shall I bother adding an assassination in or shall we work under the assumption that you were being sarcastic?" Jarvis said after checking the system.

Steve replied. "Sarcasm, thank you, Jarvis."

"Of course, Captain."

"Oi!" Tony looked at Steve with a faux hurt expression.

"Be serious, Tony. This isn't a laughing matter." Steve reprimanded lightly.

"Oh I am being serious, our Peter got hurt." Tony rubbed his hands together. Being bullied was one thing, being abused was a whole other kettle of fish; and so, with a suitably evil expression he asked, "So what _are_ we going to do?"

* * *

Clint eased he way out of the vents as the group got into a heated discussion. He had heard enough.

He 'suited up' and went to the ground floor via the elevator.

Two minutes later he re-entered his floor being dragged by the ear by Natasha.

"Ow! Damnit Nat! Let me have this one!" He whined, rubbing his ear.

"No. Not ours to have."

"Do you know what's been happening to that kid?" Clint asked.

"Yes. Still not our place to act. But I'd put money on our assistance being requested."

"You think so?"

Natasha huffed a laugh and grinned wickedly. "We aren't the only ones who want justice."

Clint returned the grin. "Avengers assemble?"

"Avenger's assemble."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Marvel and I do not profit from this story.**

* * *

Happy was not, despite his namesake, happy. As Head of Security (a completely obsolete job given who lived in the building), it was his job to vet, screen and intimidate anybody who enters the building.

Yet here he was, letting two random civilians up into the personal quarters of the Avengers. The boy he remembered from Saturday, twitching about like a crack head (what was his name again? . . . _Peter Patter? Something like that_). But for crying out loud, he wasn't even allowed to screen the aunt!

If someone gets assassinated he was blaming Tony. He made sure the man knew as such.

* * *

Peter was in a daze. His biggest secret was layed bare for everyone to see - for the biggest superheroes around to see - and not one word of judgement passed their lips. Apparently abusive father figures were a prerequisite to getting into the superhero game.

Peter felt almost dizzy with relief, he had to put his head between his knees, sitting on the bed that Tony had led him to.

He had been left alone to unwind and go to sleep, but he didn't doubt that Aunt May would pop her head in at some point. Peter ran his fingers over the quilt and came to the conclusion that if this was Steve's old floor then Captain America would have slept in this bed. He giggled hysterically. He couldn't stop.

He was relieved, yes, but also terrified because this was too good to be true, and it was only a matter of time before the other shoe dropped.

But tonight he was safe, Jeff was in the hospital fuming away over a broken arm, apparently having slipped on the kitchen tiles - given the glint in Clint Barton's eyes when he dropped in to let them know, Peter somewhat doubts that story. He was under the protection of the World's Mightiest Heroes and Aunt May had been offered a job in Human Resources. (Again to Happy's dissatisfaction).

Yeah, the other boot would drop soon.

* * *

Peter woke up the next morning and followed Jarvis' instructions to the communal floor, where they all had lunch last Saturday. It felt like forever ago now. He can't believe he had been afraid of Tony and Steve, hiding behind Gwen with his tail between his legs. (Gwen! He'll have to call her and let her know what's going on, she must be wondering why he hasn't txt her.)

He was startled by what he walked into. Steve Rogers and Aunt May cooking pancakes for a table of superheroes. He was definitely surprised. Surprised that Steve knew how to cook pancakes at all and surprised that Aunt May was cooking for the Avengers.

Dr. Banner spotted Peter first. "Sit down, Peter. You don't have to be shy."

"Yes, join us young warrior. Lady May was just telling us of your battles against the tyranny in your homestead." Thor (Peter assumed because who else could it be?) boomed and everyone's eyes darkened at his sentence. Peter scuttled into the empty chair between Thor and Tony.

Thor introduced himself properly and the Black Widow asked Peter to call her Natasha. Tony mussed up Peter's already messy hair as Aunt May slid a couple of pancakes onto his plate. It was all very domestic. It was hard to view the group sitting around him as Earth's Mightiest Heroes. They looked like a group of college flatmates.

Peter listened to the conversations happening over breakfast to distract him from the stinging in his back, a brutal reminder that not everything is as good as it seems. He silently took the pain killers proffered to him by Dr Banner at Aunt May's nod and resolved to ask about Jeff later. He didn't want to ruin the mood that good conversation and pancakes created.

Who knew that Tony Stark hated Richard Reed with such a passion? He would have thought they'd be the best of friends. Clint rolled his eyes at Peter while Tony was mid-rant. He felt less awkward than he did last night when they were discussing what to do, but part of Peter couldn't help but wonder if it was an act to help Aunt May and Peter feel better.

Peter paused in eating breakfast while Aunt May told him that he was out of school for the week while he healed. Tony became excited about all the science they could do together. "After all, you are my intern now. I'm pretty sure that means you are permanently at my beck and call."

Aunt May clipped Tony around the ear. The whole table froze as she scolded him. "Let the poor boy rest! I know you scientist types - my brother-in-law was one too - you take him down to your lab and we won't see either of you for three days."

Peter was non-suplussed at Tony's treatment, used to Aunt May's clucking, until it ws turned on him. "And just when were you going to tell me about this internship?" Peter stuffed the last of his pancakes in his mouth to avoid answering.

Tony rubbed his ear in a daze and Steve gazed at Aunt May with no small amount of admiration. Natasha continued drinking her coffee as if she didn't find the idea of Aunt May treating Tony as one of her own completely adorable,

When it was clear that Tony wasn't going to make a fuss about his poor treatment everyone went back to their breakfasts and made a silent note not to piss Aunt May off.

Clint decided to clean his room lest she find out what state it was in.


End file.
